Christian Heinrich Heineken or Heinecken (February 6, 1721 – June 27, 1725), also known as "the infant scholar of Lübeck", was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

child prodigy who lived only to the age of four.

Life

He was born in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

, Germany, the son of Paul Heinecken (1674..1746), a painter and architect, and

Catharina Elisabeth Heinecken Catharina Elisabeth Heinecken (1683 – November 5, 1757) was a German artist and alchemist and the mother of a celebrated child prodigy, Christian Heinrich Heineken. Family Born in Lübeck, she was the daughter of painter Franz Oesterreich and t ...

(1683..1757), an artist and alchemist. His brother,

Carl Heinrich von Heineken Carl Heinrich von Heineken (1707–1791) was a German art historian who was for a time in charge of King Augustus III of Poland's royal art collection. Biography He was the son of Paul Heinecken, a painter and architect in Lübeck, Germany, an ...

, became an art historian and collector and was later knighted. It is said that when he was ten months old, he could speak

. He read the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

at age one, and between the ages of two and three, he read the Old and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

s in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. When he was three years old, he was said to have recited his own ''History of Denmark'' when visiting the King of Denmark. Also at three, he testified in court concerning the murder of his friend, another boy named Reid. He died at age four of

celiac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barle ...

. He was breastfed until close to his death, which was caused very likely by the ingestion of grain products. While his exploits may seem difficult to believe, they are relatively well documented. In 1726, his tutor (a man named Schöneich) published a study of Christian entitled ''The Life, Deeds, Travels and Death of the Child of Lübeck''.

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

wrote an essay about the child, terming him an "ingenium praecox" (someone "prematurely clever").

References

Other sources

* Barlow, F. ''Mental prodigies''. New York: Philosophical Library, 1952. * Long, G. (ed.).
''Penny Cyclopaedia''
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1838. * Guido Guerzoni: The Wonderboy of Lübeck. The extraordinary life of Christian Heinrich Heinecken (English Edition). Turin 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Heineken, Christian 1721 births 1725 deaths People from Lübeck Childhood German folklore

Life

See also

References

Other sources